Is coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) associated with renal involvement? A review of century infection

Context: The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is one of the most threatening pandemics in history involving multiple organs, including the kidney. This study aimed to review the association of COVID-19 with renal involvement. Evidence Acquisition: International databases, including the Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar, were searched for articles by April 1, 2020. Keywords were COVID-19, coronavirus disease, SARS-CoV-2, kidney, renal function, acute kidney injury, and acute renal failure, or a combination of them in title/abstracts. Results: There were a few studies concerning COVID-19 and renal failure due to the short time elapsed from the epidemic onset. The results showed that hematuria and proteinuria were common in patients with COVID-19. Conclusions: Patients with elevated creatinine are at risk of mortality two times more than patients with normal creatinine. Also, elevated BUN, proteinuria, and hematuria can increase the risk of mortality in patients with COVID-19 up to four times compared to patients with normal tests. Therefore, it is important to check creatinine, BUN, proteinuria, and hematuria in primary assessments. Generally, all routine measures for people affected with COVID-19 can be done for COVID-19 patients with acute renal failure until the current knowledge is changed. Chloroquine phosphate may improve the chance of treatment. © 2020, Author(s)

COVID-19 under spotlight: A close look at the origin, transmission, diagnosis, and treatment of the 2019-nCoV disease

Months after the outbreak of a new flu-like disease in China, the entire world is now in a state of caution. The subsequent less-anticipated propagation of the novel coronavirus disease, formally known as COVID-19, not only made it to headlines by an overwhelmingly high transmission rate and fatality reports, but also raised an alarm for the medical community all around the globe. Since the causative agent, SARS-CoV-2, is a recently discovered species, there is no specific medicine for downright treatment of the infection. This has led to an unprecedented societal fear of the newly born disease, adding a psychological aspect to the physical manifestation of the virus. Herein, the COVID-19 structure, epidemiology, pathogenesis, etiology, diagnosis, and therapy have been reviewed. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Reliability-Based Stability Analysis of Rock Slopes Using Numerical Analysis and Response Surface Method

While advanced numerical techniques in slope stability analysis are successfully used in deterministic studies, they have so far found limited use in probabilistic analyses due to their high computation cost. The first-order reliability method (FORM) is one of the most efficient probabilistic techniques to perform probabilistic stability analysis by considering the associated uncertainties in the analysis parameters. However, it is not possible to directly use FORM in numerical slope stability evaluations as it requires definition of a limit state performance function. In this study, an integrated methodology for probabilistic numerical modeling of rock slope stability is proposed. The methodology is based on response surface method, where FORM is used to develop an explicit performance function from the results of numerical simulations. The implementation of the proposed methodology is performed by considering a large potential rock wedge in Sumela Monastery, Turkey. The accuracy of the developed performance function to truly represent the limit state surface is evaluated by monitoring the slope behavior. The calculated probability of failure is compared with Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) method. The proposed methodology is found to be 72% more efficient than MCS, while the accuracy is decreased with an error of 24%

Finite-Difference Time-Domain Simulation of Light Propagation in Waveguide Arrays

The theoretical and numerical models for simulation of light propagation through a system of coupled waveguides have been derived based on Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) method for direct solution of Maxwell equations. The main features of the modes of energy transfer between two coupled waveguides, and discrete diffraction in the system of several coupled waveguides have been studied systematically

Comparative evaluation of carbamazepine release from single and bi-polymeric based matrices

In the present study the release rate and kinetics of  carbamazepine as a model drug from various single and bi-polymeric matrices were studied. Matrices containing different percentages of hydroxylpropyl methylcellulose (HPMC), ethylcellulose (EC), Eudragit RS (EuRS) or various ratios of polymer blends based on HPMC were prepared. In vitro release studies were carried out in 1% sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS) aqueous solution. Mean dissolution times (MDT) were calculated and the release kinetics were evaluated using different mathematical models. The results showed that carbamazepine release was sustained in the presence of 15% HPMC for 6 hrs, but increasing the polymer content had no obvious effect. Application of EC or EuRS both in the percentages of 20% and 25% had more influence in retarding drug release rate (MDTs about 6 hrs). The results for bi-polymeric matrices revealed that overall, adding EC or EuRS as inert polymers to HPMC matrices resulted in a noticeable reduction in carbamazepine release rate compared to single polymer based matrices. Application of bi-polymeric matrices could be considered as a suitable approach for delivering the drug in a prolonged manner

Application of integrated risk-based approach to safety design of high speed LNG powered vessels

The shipping industry is facing increasing claims to meet restricted environmentalregulations and escalating operation costs. To mitigate these problems, cleaner andmore cost-effective fuels are required to power the new generation of vessels.Currently, the high speed ferry sector is using lightweight diesel engines burningdistillate fuels. However, the increasing demand for higher installed power requirement in such vessels, coupled with fuel costs, has placed further constraints onthis sector (Bennett 2011). Liquefied natural gas (LNG), which meets these newrequirements, is now becoming popular as an alternative fuel in this sector.Liquefied natural gas is obtained through natural gas liquefaction by cooling itto approximately 162 °C at atmospheric pressure. This process reduces the volumeapproximately 600 times; hence, it is more competent for transportation and storagecompared to conventional hydrocarbon fuels (Ramos et al. 2014)

Comparison of a Suggested Model of Fibrosis in Human Dermal Fibroblasts by Serum from Systemic Sclerosis Patients with Transforming Growth Factor β Induced in vitro Model

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a chronic autoimmune disease, featuring fibrosis in multiple organs. The serum from SSc patients contain inflammatory mediators, contributing to SSc pathogenesis and could be used to develop cell culture models. Here, we compared the fibrotic effects of serum samples from SSc patients with TGFβ1 on human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs). HDF cells were cultured in four different culture media supplementations; 10 SSc serum, 10 healthy human serum, 10 fetal bovine serum or 10 FBS supplemented with 10 ng/Ml human TGFβ. The collagen content in cell layers was measured by spectrophotometric Picro-Sirius red staining. The mRNA expression of α-SMA, COL I and III, TGFβ1, arginase and E-Cadherin genes were determined by real time RT-PCR. TGF-β1 levels in cell culture supernatants were measured using ELISA. Cell layer collagen content was significantly increased following TGF-β1 treatment, compared with FBS group and SSc serum treatment in comparison with healthy controls. Although not statistically significant, the mRNA expression of α-SMA, COLI and III, TGFβ1, and arginase increased upon TGF-β1 treatment in comparison with FBS group, and in SSc serum treatment group in comparison with healthy controls. E-Cadherin decreased following TGF-β1 treatment and SSc serum treatment in comparison with their counterparts. TGF-β1 levels increased in cell culture supernatants of HDF cells exposed to TGF-β1 and SSc serum. An in vitro model of SSc serum-induced fibrosis using human HDF cells was evaluated in comparison to the TGF-β1 fibrosis induced model and data suggested that it may be used in documenting the role of pro-fibrotic factors in serum or plasma from SSc patients © This work is published as an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4). Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted, provided the original work is properly cite

Analysis of potential rockfalls and protection measures for the Mardin castle, Turkey

Rockfalls are one of the major hazards in hilly regions which can impose significant damages to the structures as well as human lives and property. Understanding the behavior of a rockfall along its trajectory is essential in order to design and implement protection measures for providing safe environment. Coefficient of restitution is one of the most important parameters for predicting a rockfall behavior. Back analysis is an effective tool in estimating the coefficient of restitution for a specific area. This study presents the analysis of rockfalls around the Mardin castle by probabilistic methods after estimating the real coefficient of restitution. Run out distance, bounce height, kinetic energy and translation velocity are studied in the area and accordingly barriers in 4 m height with capacities ranging from 3000 to 5000 KJ are suggested as protective measures